Description

How far are you willing to go to save someone you love?

The Origami Killer has struck again. Recognized by his unique habit of leaving an origami figure at the center of his crimes, the serial killer has taken another victim. With his pattern of killing his victims within four days time is running out to save him. This is where the lives of four characters become entangled as they all search to stop the Origami Killer: Ethan Mars, a former architect overcome with depression and guilt over an accident leading to one of his son's death; Norman Jayden, an FBI profiler investigating the Origami case using an experimental device known as ARI (Added Reality Interface); Madison Paige, a nightmare filled journalist who unexpectedly finds her way into the investigation; and Scott Shelby, a private eye hired by families of victims of the serial killer to find things the authorities may have missed.

Heavy Rain is an interactive drama title combining adventure and action elements. The story revolves around the lives of four characters as they try to stop the Origami Killer from taking the life of another victim. The game has a heavy emphasis on user choices, with different decisions you make completely changing the way the story unfolds and which will lead to one of the many possible endings the game offers. There is no game-over screen if one of or all of the main characters die, there will just be a different ending given.

Similar to Quantic Dream's previous title Indigo Prophecy/Fahrenheit, the game is moved along primarily by the use of QTEs (Quick Time Events). Movement of your character is done by holding the R2 button and choosing a direction with the left analog stick. Holding the L2 button brings up your characters thoughts and pressing the button to go along with each thought will lead him/her to say or do something.

Budget re-release of Heavy Rain includes game patch to support PlayStation Move controller (the patch can also be downloaded as standalone for free). That includes budget releases such as Platinum (in Europe), Greatest Hits (in America), or PlayStation 3 the Best (in Asia).

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Trivia

1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die

Heavy Rain is mentioned in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die by Tony Mott

Alternate Cover

For its North American release Sony decided to re-design the box cover to appeal to US audiences. However, as a small consolation for those stuck with the US packaging the official Playstation Blog uploaded a high-res, print-ready cover version of the original one. You can find it on the Playstation Blog's official flickr account or under the Links/Searches section.

Blackouts

Ever wondered what the source of Ethan's blackouts was? In the original script for the game these blackouts were a result of the trauma Ethan sustained from his first son's death in the game's intro. Instead of just blacking out Ethan would find himself hallucinating a submerged house which he would explore until finding the drowned body of one of the Origami Killer's victims. In these hallucinations Ethan would actually have unknowingly been psychically connected to the mind of the killer.

Due to the backlash against the strong paranormal elements of the team's previous game, Indigo Prophecy, they decided to axe these segments only months before the game's release, leaving them as just unexplained blackouts.

Censorship

Although executive producer Guillaume de Fondaumière announced in October 2009 that the game would be culturally censored to cater to different territories, SCEA eventually confirmed in January 2010 that the game wouldn't be censored in the US, Europe or any other territories the firm has an office.

Japanese Release

The Japanese release has manual and covers in Japanese, but it actually supports both Japanese and English. They are selectable individually for voice-acting, subtitles, and menus.

Origami Bird

The keep case contains a piece of paper with a print on it. While the game is installing, instructions are shown how to fold the paper into an origami bird, identical to the one shown on the game front cover.